Database
Definitions General A database is U.S. copyright law For purposes of copyright registration, a database is Background Databases have always been commodities of both commercial value and social utility, ranging from their early incarnation in the 18th century as directories compiled by walking door to door to the late 20th century compendiums of millions of items in electronic form. The question of whether and how databases should be protected by the law has never been easy, as it necessarily involves finding a balance between two potentially conflicting societal goals: the goal of providing adequate incentives for their continued production, and the goal of ensuring public access to the information they contain. At different points in time, and in different societies, that balance has been struck in different ways. Electronic database An electronic database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system so that a computer program or person using a query language can consult it to answer queries. The records retrieved in answer to queries are information that can be used to make decisions. The computer program used to manage and query a database is known as a database management system (DBMS). The central concept of a database is that of a collection of records, or pieces of information. Typically, for a given database, there is a structural description of the type of facts held in that database: this description is known as a schema. The schema describes the objects that are represented in the database, and the relationships among them. There are a number of different ways of organizing a schema, that is, of modeling the database structure: these are known as database models (or data models). The model in most common use today is the relational model, which in layman's terms represents all information in the form of multiple, related tables each consisting of rows and columns (the formal definition uses mathematical terminology). This model represents relationships by the use of values common to more than one table. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships. The term "database" refers to the collection of related records, and the software should be referred to as the "database management system" or "DBMS." When the context is ambiguous, however, many database administrators and programmers use the term database to cover both meanings. Many professionals consider a collection of data to constitute a database only if it has certain properties: for example, if the data is managed to ensure its integrity and quality, if it allows shared access by a community of users, if it has a schema, or if it supports a query language. However, there is no definition of these properties that is universally agreed upon. EU Database Directive Under the EU Database Directive, the term "database" is defined as “a collection of independent works, data or other materials arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually accessible by electronic or other means.”Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, 1996 O.J. (L 77/20), art. 1(2). Explicitly excluded from protection under the directive are “computer programs used in the making or operation of databases accessible by electronic means.”''Id.'' art. 1(3). Recital (17) expands on the definition: Database protection Copyright. Copyright protection of databases, if it exists at all, is very thin. As a result, database producers have adopted three main strategies to protect against unauthorized use of their products: (1) enhancing copyright protection by altering the structure or content of their databases to incorporate greater creativity; (2) increasing reliance on contracts; and (3) employing technological safeguards to prevent unauthorized access and use. Enhancing copyright protection may entail either adding copyrightable text or altering the selection and arrangement of the database to make it more creative. Both approaches increase the likelihood that the database as a whole will be copyrightable, but are limited in their utility as means to prevent copying of the factual components of a database. In addition, depending on the type of database, these approaches may make the database more expensive to produce and/or less valuable to a user seeking a comprehensive, easy to access collection of unadorned facts. Contracts. Contracts are a major source of protection for database producers, both form contracts and negotiated agreements. They appear in a variety of print and electronic formats. Typically contracts are used to restrict access, specify permissible conditions of use, and set terms for enforcement and remedies. Different companies provide different types of price structures. It is fairly standard for producers to engage in differential pricing, charging reduced fees to non-profit and educational institutions. Technology. Technological safeguards supplement legal protection for electronic databases. To the extent that they are used, it is in combination with licensing and enforcement of legal rights. The technological safeguards in use today are simple or low-end measures such as passwords. More sophisticated cryptography-based systems are likely to be adopted in the future, and used in conjunction with secure electronic transfer of funds and “click-wrap” licenses. Producers will not rely solely on technological measures, however, given the security problems of technological "break-ins" and the inability to control subsequent use of decrypted products. References See also * A Question of Balance: Private Rights and the Public Interest in Scientific and Technical Databases * Access to Archival Databases * AGing Integrated Database * Automated database * Biometric database * Commercial database * Computer data base * computer database * Configuration management database * Consular Consolidated Database * Copyright protection of databases * Copyright Registration for Automated Databases * Copyright registration of databases * Critical Infrastructure Database * Database administrator * Database application * Database as a Service * Database Definition Language * Database design * Database engineering * Database integration * Database management system * Database marketing * Database program * Database protection * Database query * Database segment * Database server * Database vendor * Defense Medical Epidemiology Database * Department of the Navy Application and Database Management System * Digital Point Positioning Database * Distributed database * Energy Infrastructure Attack Database * Enforcement Integrated Database * EU Database Directive * Federal Interagency Databases Online * Geolocation database * Health database organization * Hierarchical database * Industrial Security Incident Database * In-database processing * Issues Regarding a National Land Parcel Database * Modernized Integrated Database * National Asset Database * National DNA Database * National Wildlife Health Center Wildlife Mortality Database * National Vulnerability Database * Online database * Open Source Vulnerability Database * Privacy and the WHOIS database * Relational database * Relational database management system * Report on Legal Protection for Databases * Space Act Agreement Maker database * State Geographic Information Database * Terrorist Screening Database * UN E-government Development Database * Unified National Database of Critical Infrastructure * Vulnerability database * 9-1-1 Legislation Tracking Database Category:Technology Category:Software Category:Content Category:Data Category:Definition